Safe.



No. 649,455. Patented May 15, I900.

J. T. HOUGH.

SAFE.

(Application fllod lay 9, 1899.)

(No Model.)

. L J k y 2 J way; Inventor 4 JO'Z/Z/ZTJEW TON. b. c. w: nomus wrrns ca,mmo-Lrrpcx.v wunmo UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN THOMPSON IIOUGII, OF PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

SAFE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 649,455, dated May 15,1900.

Application filed May 9, 1899. Serial No. 716,131. (No model) To allwhom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, J OHN THOMPSON HOUGH, a citizen of the United States,residing at Pittsburg, in the county of Allegheny and State ofPennsylvania, have invented new and useful Improvements in Safes, ofwhich the following is a specification.

In the construction of safes for banks and the like it is of courseimportant that the easing be made of a material which is without flawsor weak spots and one through which boring is impossible. The usualmanner of constructing the casings for safes is to cast them in theshape desired. In doing so, however, the different walls will be ofdifferent thicknesses at different points, the result being that thechanges in temperature to which.

the material is subjected during the casting process will cause anunequal expansion and contraction and produce weak spots through whichthe safe maybe penetrated or along which it may be cracked. I havediscovered a material which may be advantageously used in theconstruction of safes which is extremely malleable and ductile and atthe same time is so hard that it cannot be penetrated by a boring-tool.This material has the further property, on the other hand, of beingsubject to a high degree of expansion and contraction. In order that thesame maybe used effectively,therefore, I have provided an improved formof construction for the safe, which consists of a body cast in a-singlepiece and comprising the top and bottom, the back, and side walls of thesafe, the front edges of the sides and top and bottom having a groovecast in them which receives a tongue of corresponding shape on the frontplate. This tongue is held in place by means of screws extendingthroughv the side and top and bottom walls into the tongue itself.

The details of construction will be set forth hereinafter and the novelfeatures specifically defined in the claims.

In the drawings forming part of the specification, Figure l is ahorizontal section of a safe-easing, showing my improvements; and Fig. 2is a front elevation of the body thereof,

showing the groove in the front edges of the walls thereof.

Like reference-n u merals indicate like parts in the different views.

In constructing the safe-casing I cast in one piece the body 1, havingintegral back, side, top, and bottom walls, all of equal thicknessthroughout, so that the expansion and contraction of the material duringthe casting process will be equalized and no flaws or weak points willbe produced. In the front edge of the side, top, and bottom walls I formduring the casting process a groove 2, and leading into said groove fromthe inner surfaces of said side, top, and bottom walls I also formduring the casting process openings 3 3 for receiving seeuringserews 4c;The front plate 5 of the casing is also cast and has extending aroundits inner surface a ring or tongue 6, which fits within the groove 2 andis adapted to receive the threaded ends of the screws 4 for the purposeof locking the body 1 and front plate 5 in close contact with eachother. The body 1 and the front plate 5 are preferably made of materialhaving properties of malleability and ductility combined with that ofextreme hardness. The ring or flange 6 is, however, of a softermaterial, cast with the frontplate 5, so that it may be tapped toreceive the securing-screws 4 l. By this manner of construction anextremelyeffective safe-casing may be produced which is without flaws atany point.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A safe-casing consisting of a body and a front plate, one of saidparts having a tongue of softer material than itself cast therewith andprojecting therefrom, and the other having a groove for receiving saidtongue, and means engaging said tongue for securing the same in saidgroove.

2. A safe-casing of impenetrable material, consisting of a body made upof integral side, top, bottom and back walls of equal thicknessesthroughout, the side,top and bottom walls having a groove cast in theirfront edges and openings extending from the inner surfaces thereof andleading into said groove, a front plate having a ring of softer materialcast therewith on its inner face, the said ring or tongue adapted to fitwithin said groove, and screws extending through said openings andengaging threaded openings in said ring or tongue, as and for thepurpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of twosubscribing wit- I0 nesses.

JOHN THOMPSON IIOUGI'I.

Witnesses:

H. J. GRAHAM, M. B. BATES.

